As well as the expected bar and garden bar, there is the Wairoa Restaurant - bistro-smart with a changing seasonal menu proudly featuring local oysters and wines. Try the buffalo loin with ricotta and ravioli entered in this year's Monteith's Wild Food Challenge.

3. Puhoi Pub & HotelAhiroa Rd, Puhoi, ph (09) 422 0812

The enormous garden bar is a magnet on a sunny day, but it's worth checking inside the 150-year-old villa for memorabilia of the 1860s settlers and interesting taxidermy. Good honest pub food, visitors rave about the friendly service. This is so not the city.

Rosso has seasonally changing fine dining. The refurbished public bar re-opens at the end July, with good pub grub. With new accommodation, plans for summer farmers' market this completes the historic charm of this old railway town.